With the Abt Touareg, Abt Sportsline is entering unknown terrain: for the first time, the engineers and designers from the Allgäu are taking on an off-road vehicle. The basic concept of the Touareg combines the features of a high-quality off-road car with the comfort of a top-class limousine and the dynamic characteristics of a sports car. The world’s leading tuning company for makes of the Volkswagen-concern especially emphasises on the third aspect with its ideas, that are to be shown for the first time at the Essen Motor Show.
Courtesy of excellent connections to the concern from Wolfsburg, Abt Sportsline has been able once more to present its first study for the new off-road vehicle just after the official debut of the Touareg. Thus, the Abt Touareg at the Essen Motor Show, equipped with a V10-power plant, has already been fitted with a front section made of GFK plastic, which makes the appearance of the car even more sporty and dynamic. At the rear of the fully galvanized bodywork, a rear bumper section with exhaust cover is the souvenir of the car’s visit to the workshop of the 2002 DTM champions.
Anyone wanting to find his way off the paved road needs the right shoes. There, the Touareg is no exception. And Abt Sportsline makes his mark here as well: the Abt sports wheel SP2 with 275/40 R20 ContiSportContact 4x4 tyres is only an appetizer, because work on a wheel with a diameter of 22 inch is already well underway.
The fact that off-road cars are always an issue for racing drivers as well, is proven by Laurent Aiello. A passionate jet-skier, the new DTM-champion was one of the first to have his name written down on the list of possible clients for the first Abt Touareg. “For me, the Touareg is the ideal car: I can take my jet-skis and my entire family without any problems and I don’t have to do without sporting power and comfort”, the Frenchman says. “And I am convinced that, with its even more sporty looks, the Abt Touareg will be a real highlight.”
Text and photos courtesy of AC Schnitzer
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